Animal Games - Neon Wild EP

Hear The Track Here

Here's a review request that has been on the books since August and here it is, the night of Halloween, over a two month wait which I can only apologise for but hey, there are LOT of people wanting reviews. Anyway, Animal Games saw my review of another artist (who they had played with) and liked what they read. Next thing you know, here we are - albeit 2 months later. A five peice Los Angeles band consisting of Chris Buxton, Frank Tobias, Daniel Gonzales, JP Grado and Matt Hansen. Having lived there for a while in my mis-spent youth I learned one thing: LA is a tough town musically; got to have your stuff together or they will eat you alive and not even bother to spit out the bones. This was always true with rock bands I suspect it still is with Indie Alternative bands a la Animal Games.

Neon Wild is a five track EP and if I hadn't known their location then Casual Touch (the first track) would have given the game away with it's breezy, guitar drenched West Coast sound. However, that's just a passing thought because the more you get into the track the more you hear the heavier influences like The Cure and Smiths respectively. Not to say that this is copying, but they are certainly drawing inspiration from these two bands, structurally and in performance. The same can be said for the excellent production which as good as anything out there, and definitely punches its weight.

For my money, the standout track just has to be Neon Wild itself, simply because of that blend of influences mentioned above with a leavening of New Order to make it go at a particular clip. Very nice indeed. Should you happen to live in LA I see that Animal Games are live, gigging band and if these five tunes are any indication of what they represent that I think this would be a very lively and entertaining live act, certainly their tunes hold up well. As you know, sometimes this material really makes me jump about and sometimes it doesn't and there is no rhyme or reason to it other than personal preference because although I like a couple of the tracks a lot, others merely passed me by. There again, this isn't aimed at me, those who it is aimed at are in for a treat though. Solid work, and a band worth watching.

Highly Recommended LA Indie.